The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. Indicating instruments or gauges for viewing by drivers of automobiles generally include an analog portion for displaying operational information such as vehicle speed and engine RPM and, in more recent technologically advanced vehicles, a liquid crystal display for displaying information related to vehicle operating condition such as fuel efficiency, outside temperature, engine functions, and other information related to driving or vehicle conditions. An analog gauge typically includes a faceplate having indicia thereon such as numbers and a pointer for rotating to the appropriate number. While such analog indicating instruments and liquid crystal displays have generally proven satisfactory for their intended purposes, they have been associated with their share of limitations.
One such limitation of current vehicles with both analog and liquid crystal display devices is their packaging requirements. Because such devices are normally located in separate locations on a vehicle dash, extensive amounts of space are normally required in a dash. This generally leaves little packaging space for other gauges, such as temperature, fuel, and engine RPM gauges.
Another limitation of current vehicles with both analog and liquid crystal display devices is also related to vehicle packaging. More specifically, because incorporating analog and LCD devices within a vehicle dash presently means locating such devices in separate areas of the dash, even if they are adjacent to each other, the time necessary to view both, the analog and digital gauges, and the human movements required to view both, may be cumbersome for a vehicle driver.
What is needed then is a device that does not suffer from the above disadvantages. This, in turn, will provide an analog and an LCD device that is quickly and easily discernible in a short amount of time and that does not require extensive head or eye movements by a viewer of the gauges.